Water district joint powers board reconvened

Various water district representatives met formally to reconvene the Hot Springs County Water District Joint Powers Board (HSCWDJPB) at the Annex building on Thursday, February 16. The last time the HSCWDJPB met was in 2018. 

The representatives were Kent Cordingly from Lucerne Water, Tony Basko of Owl Creek Water, Tom Ryan of Hot Springs County, Quinton Hetzel of South Thermopolis Water, and Sid McDonald of the Town of East Thermopolis. 

In new business, the board elected their officers. Tom Ryan is Chairman, Sid McDonald is Vice Chairman, and Tony Basko is Secretary/Treasurer.

It was noted that the Lucerne Water District might not be part of the board due to it already being a Big Horn Regional Water District member. Their participation is still being explored. Also, the members of Red Lane as still pending their membership as their water district is still being potentially formed. 

Additionally, Thermopolis Mayor Adam Estenson and the Town Council were still pending their involvement at the time of this meeting. Their decision to participate or not will be determined at their council meeting on Tuesday, February 21, which is after our newspaper printing deadline. We will report on that meeting in the March 2 issue.

The HSCWDJPB is dealing with a time crunch because they seek to have an application submitted to the State to set up a drilling project on Lysite Mountain to determine if there is a viable water source for the area. The deadline is March 1, and it is dependent upon the Town of Thermopolis' agreed participation.

In the meeting, discussion was held regarding the assessment of funding for the district and estimated an approximate $3,000 to be put up by each entity. Tom Ryan, representing Hot Springs County, said they can commit to about $5,000 to the board.

A discussion was held about the fees each entity would contribute to the board. Exact figures are to be determined in the future.

The board voted and passed approval to have their regular monthly meetings on the third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. Their next meeting will be on March 16, at 7 p.m.

Jeff Rosenlund from Dowl presented a draft resolution to the board and also discussed their application fee, which is $1,000, and there is also a $1,000 reimbursement fee. Rosenlund explained there is a possibility the fee could be waived.

Chairman Ryan said, "We are not committing anybody to the joint powers board or to anything." However, Ryan added they need to find out of the drilling on Lysite Mountain will produce a viable water source. Their proposed Level 2 study will determine this. 

The Hot Springs County Water District Joint Powers Board voted and passed the approval of Resolution 23-1 to get the application started. It was also noted to the board that the Big Horn Regional Water District provided their letter of support.

A concerned citizen and former County Planner, Lee Campbell, spoke about the importance of choosing the "best minds" for determining the location of the drilling for water. Campbell explained there were four other prior attempts at drilling and that all four failed to find water.